Thickened beverages are used by patients in long term health care facilities and hospitals to address a swallowing condition known as dysphasia. It has been known that patients with swallowing problems are capable of handling thickened beverages. Because of the nature of this condition, it is important that the patient receive a product that is smooth textured and free of lumps. The degree of thickening needed is determined by the severity of the swallowing condition. Therefore, the beverage must also be consistent in terms of thickness from use to use. In recent years many new products have been introduced to address this need. These have included dry mixes, in which a starch is spooned into a liquid and mixed, as well as ready to serve thickened drinks. While the powered products have worked acceptably well in cold beverages, they have been unsuccessful in hot applications.
Currently, agglomerated pre-gelatinized starches are sold in the health care market for use as thickeners for beverages, either hot or cold beverages. Standard pre-gelatinized starches are generally difficult to mix into liquids. The process of agglomeration is a common technique used to improve the instantness of dry powders and mixes. The process involves, essentially, the sticking together of fine powder to form a bigger particle. In doing so, this product will have a lower bulk density and disperse more easily into liquids.
In the process of agglomerating, the powder is misted with a liquid as it is tumbled. In this way the particles are wetted and stick together. The environment in which this takes place is usually hot such that the agglomerate dries as it forms. In many cases, the powder is agglomerated using only water. However, solutions incorporating other ingredients, such as hydrophilic materials like sugars, dextrins, or cellulose, have also been used. Agglomerated starches have been successful as instant thickeners in cold beverage application but they have been met with only marginal success in hot applications. In hot liquids, the starch, even if agglomerated, tends to wet and begin hydrating before it has a chance to disperse. This leads to particles clumping together and forming lumps.
One method to counteract this lumping is to make a harder agglomerate by coating the starch with a carbohydrate based solution. This coating tends to slow down the hydration and allow the starch particles to disperse first. This essentially is the method described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,020 which relates to a process for producing a dry edible product having an admixture of starch and maltodextrin, which is made by mixing the maltodextrin with water, then mixing in the starch and conditioning, drying, then grinding to a desirable size. The resultant product, containing dry food ingredients, can be reconstituted with water without lumping. The drawback of this method when used to make thicken beverages for dysphasia patients is that slow hydration means that the liquid doesn't thicken quickly, and there is a tendency to add more starch powder than is needed. By the time the patient in the care facility receives the product, it may be too thick for their needs. In many cases the starch never fully hydrates. This partially hydrated starch may present an unacceptable mealy or granular texture.
PCT Application 91/118 517 relates to a process for the production of instant coffee powder, using a finely ground polysaccharide, such as maltodextrin in a mix with milled spray dried soluble coffee extract, and a small amount of finely ground roast coffee. This mix is reconstituted with hot water to give an instant coffee drink with the taste and aroma sensation of fresh coffee. However, this drink is not a thickened drink which is suitable to dysphasia patients.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,682 claims a food mix containing fructose, and a mixture of modified food starch with maltodextrin, with a defined moisture content. This product is not a thickened product.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,720 prepares a flavored food, or coffee product by mixing the flavor oil with an entrapped mixture of flavor oil in a starch or dextrin matrix. This food mix is not a thickened drink product.
In summary, the prior art provides food powders which when mixed with hot water, tend to lump. When and if the powders do disperse, they take too long to thicken and don't provide a smooth textured product.